Bone Marrow Transplants

Types of Bone Marrow Transplants:

• Autologous Transplant: In this type of transplant, the patient’s own stem cells are harvested, stored, and then transplanted back after intensive chemotherapy or radiation therapy. This helps in cases where the patient’s own marrow is diseased, but they are otherwise in good health.
• Allogenic Transplant: This involves using stem cells from a donor, which can be a matched sibling (MSD), a matched unrelated donor (MUD), or a haploidentical donor (a family member who is not a perfect match). Allogenic transplants are often used in cases of severe leukemia or other blood cancers where the patient’s bone marrow is not functioning properly.
• Haploidentical Transplant: A type of allogeneic transplant using stem cells from a half-matched family member, often used when no fully matched donor is available.

Conditions Treated: Bone marrow transplants are used to treat a wide variety of conditions, including:

• Leukemias (e.g., Acute Myeloid Leukemia, Chronic Myeloid Leukemia)
• Lymphomas (e.g., Hodgkin Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma)
• Multiple Myeloma
• Severe Aplastic Anemia
• Inherited blood disorders such as thalassemia or sickle cell anemia

Procedure and Benefits: The BMT procedure typically involves several stages, including:

1. Preparation: The patient undergoes high-dose chemotherapy or radiation therapy to destroy the cancerous or diseased bone marrow.
2. Transplant: Healthy stem cells from the patient (autologous) or donor (allogeneic) are infused into the patient’s bloodstream.
3. Recovery and Monitoring: The patient’s new bone marrow takes time to engraft and begin producing healthy blood cells. Recovery is carefully monitored, and supportive treatments are provided as needed.

Bone marrow transplants are a highly effective treatment option, offering the potential for long-term remission or even a cure for some conditions, particularly when other treatments have failed.

Success Rates and Care: Success rates depend on various factors, including the patient’s age, overall health, and the type of disease being treated. The transplant process can be intense and requires careful follow-up, including infection prevention, managing side effects, and preventing graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) in allogeneic transplants.

Our team provides comprehensive care throughout the BMT process, offering expert support from pre-transplant evaluation through recovery and long-term follow-up.